Local Early Childhood Expert to Create a Ripple Effect of Learning in Three Lowcountry Counties
June 5, 2011
Ripple Effect Awarded Contract to help Local Students Excel
CHARLESTON,SC – June 2, 2011 – One in seven children in the state of South Carolina is not ready for first grade. S.C. First Steps to School Readiness, created in 1999 by the General Assembly, aims to help change that. Locally based early childhood expert, Jessica Shields Flowers of Ripple Effect, has been awarded a contract by S.C. First Steps to be the Lead Coach/Trainer for their Foundations for Learning Project, which aims to improve social and emotional development outcomes in high-risk children from 0-5 years in three Lowcountry counties.
As the Lead Coach/Trainer, Flowers will implement a curriculum set up by The Center for the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL). With this position, Flowers will direct the professional development and mental health consultation for this project in the participating counties of Charleston, Horry and Georgetown. The Center for the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) is a public foundation that supports the learning of children, birth through age five that supports high-quality early learning.
“This contract is quite an honor and shows the commitment of our educators to help make a difference in our community, a difference that will ultimately build strong families which in turn, creates stronger communities. ” said Jessica Shields Flowers, the only Certified Conscious Discipline Instructor® in the state.
Since its inception, S.C. First Steps has helped more than 500,000 young children prepare for school through programs that strengthen families, improve children’s health and well-being, increase the quality of child care and early education opportunities and help transition rising kindergarteners into school.
